Did you know cockroaches hate light and are the most active at night? So if you’ve noticed a roach at night, whether inside or outside your home, you probably want to know how to keep cockroaches away at night.
Thankfully, there are several great ways to keep them away at night. A few of the best ways to keep cockroaches away at night are traps, baits, insecticide spray, essential oils, extra cleaning, patching up cracks and entries, using nightlights, keeping the temperature cool in your home, and more.
Read on below and learn how to keep cockroaches away at night once and for all!
Table of Contents
How Bad Is Your Cockroach Infestation?
Figuring out how bad your cockroach infestation is is the first lesson in learning how to keep cockroaches away at night.
Having a few cockroaches crawl around from time to time is one thing. Experiencing an infestation and seeing multiple cockroaches each day and night is another. If you see cockroaches on a nightly basis, it’s time to admit you have a cockroach problem and start dealing with it.
You will need to pay attention to when you see the cockroaches and how many you tend to see. Whether they come out mainly during the daytime or night will help you gauge how bad the infestation you have is.
In addition, seeing many cockroaches is an obvious sign of a more significant problem. However, it’s essential to consider the number of cockroaches you see in context with the time you see them.
Do You See Cockroaches in the Daytime?
If, yes, you see cockroaches in the daytime, there is no question that you have a roach infestation.
Roaches prefer to come out at night and only venture out into your home when their nests are overpopulated. Seeing cockroaches crawl around in the daytime is a clear sign that it is time to go to war with these pests. This is true even if you only see one or two cockroaches.
12 Best Options for Keeping Cockroaches Away at Night
Now that you know you have a cockroach problem to deal with, let’s have a look at some of the best options for how to keep cockroaches away at night:
1. Clean Up and Cover Trash Cans
The first step to combating roaches is cleaning up the trash, debris, and food leftovers around your home. This includes keeping lids on trash cans, sinks clean, and dishwasher machines empty.
Old boards, bricks, and old appliances are some of the most common places roaches hide outside your home. Removing these potential roach habitats, or moving them as far away from your house as possible, reduces their nightly excursions into your home.
Likewise, standing water and open trash bins are welcoming invitations for cockroaches to come and eat, drink, and be merry.
2. Use Boric Acid
Boric acid is one of the most common pest control products for managing cockroaches. Sprinkle boric acid, in powdered form, behind your cabinets, furniture, and appliances, as well as under drains and in any dark places that are inaccessible to children and pets.
Boric acid may also be used around your home’s foundations to prevent cockroaches from entering your home at night.
Read More: How To Use Boric Acid Against Roaches.
3. Set Gel Baits and Sticky Traps
Roach traps and baits are popular ways to cut down the number of cockroaches you see crawling around your home at night.
Traps capture the roaches and prevent them from leaving. Baits and bait traps trick roaches into taking poison back to their nests and killing large numbers of their population.
Both traps and baits are highly cost-effective compared to other methods of keeping roaches away at night.
4. A Few Drops of Essential Oils
Essential oils are potent roach repellents that may help you keep cockroaches away at night. All it takes is a drop or two of essential oil here and there (where you notice cockroach activity).
Alternatively, you can use essential oil in a spray bottle to spritz areas with high roach traffic.
Essential oils that repel cockroaches include:
- Tea tree
- Peppermint
- Cedar
- Catnip
- Oregano
- Rosemary
- Eucalyptus lavender citrus
5. Use Bay Leaves and Other Fresh Herbs
Some herbs are so powerful they don’t need to be broken down into essential oils to work against cockroaches.
Bay leaves and basil, for example, are both potent enough to help keep roaches away at night.
The catch is that these herbs only work as barriers and repellent; they don’t kill cockroaches.
Read More: Full guide on how to use bay leaves against roaches.
6. Sprinkle Cinnamon
Cinnamon is a powerful organic pest control method for managing roaches.
Cockroaches find the scent of cinnamon disgusting; they do anything in their power to avoid it.
Sprinkle cinnamon around your cabinets, furniture, and appliances and in cracks in your home’s foundation.
Alternatively, you may spray cinnamon essential oil or set out cinnamon sticks to deter roaches from venturing into your home at night.
7. Set Out Baking Soda and Sugar
If you want to attract cockroaches and kill them, sugar and baking soda is one of the best options to try.
Mix baking soda and sugar into a small dish and set it near high-traffic areas. The cockroaches won’t be able to resist the sugar, and once in contact with the baking soda, they start dropping dead.
Check out our complete guide to using baking soda to kill cockroaches.
8. Fill in Tiny Cracks
Tiny cracks are one of the main entries for roaches to get inside your home at night. Filling in all the small gaps you can find, whether in floorboards or foundations of your home, reduces the number of roaches that can get inside.
Putty, cement, and mesh are useful for patching tiny cracks around the house.
9. Treat Crawl Spaces and Attics
One big mistake is forgetting to treat crawl spaces and attics for roaches. Anywhere that is dark and dry (most of the time) is an ideal place for a roach infestation to begin.
Whether setting out traps, spraying, or sprinkling boric acid or cinnamon, make sure to treat your crawl spaces, basements, and attics.
10. Use a Night Light
A simple trick for keeping roaches away at night is using a night light. Cockroaches hate the light, so keeping a light on almost always results in fewer roaches crawling around in your home.
Light offers only a little help against major infestations. It is best with one or more other pest control methods (like traps and baits).
11. Keep the Temperature Cool
Cockroaches prefer warm and humid temperatures to cold and dry climates. That’s why you should keep your house as cool as possible while trying to deter cockroaches from entering your home.
The colder it is in your home, the less mobile roaches become. Temperatures below 45℉ are damaging to roaches, as are temperatures higher than 115℉. Keeping your thermostat on 65℉ may at least slow the cockroaches down while you deal with the issue.
12. Seal Up Entryways
Sealing up the entryways and windows to your home with weatherstripping is an effective way to prevent cockroaches from entering your home. The easiest way to get into your home at night is through the gaps under your doors and windows.
Sprinkling boric acid or cinnamon powder on the exterior window sills also cuts back on roaches getting inside.
Frequently Asked Questions
What Smells Keep Roaches Away?
A few of the best smells to keep cockroaches away are mint, tea tree, rosemary, cedar, citrus, oregano, and catnip. Using odors they hate is a good way to keep them at bay.
Do Roaches Crawl on You at Night?
Unfortunately, yes, roaches do crawl on you at night. The good news is that it isn’t likely to happen unless you have a cockroach infestation in your home.
What Keeps Roaches Away at Night?
A few everyday things that keep roaches away at night are bait traps, insecticide spray, essential oil, cinnamon, boric acid, light, and keeping your home’s temperature cooler than normal.
Can Roaches Climb onto My Bed?
Yes, roaches can climb onto your bed while you sleep. It isn’t a fun thought, but it can and does happen. The real question is whether or not they leave cockroach feces on you or not.
Take Steps to Keep Cockroach Infestations At Bay
Learning how to keep cockroaches away at night isn’t as hard as you may have heard. It takes a bit of effort, but it is easily achievable. Try to combine two or more of the previously discussed home pest control tactics for even more effectiveness.
With all the great options listed above, you should have no problem keeping your home roach free at night.